Global Studies

Director: Leena Knight, Biology

The Concentration in Global Studies is a framework for students to demonstrate and be recognized for in-depth

interdisciplinary engagement with global themes, processes, and problems, regardless of their majors or minors.

Learning Goals: After completing the Concentration in Global Studies students should be able to:

Move beyond seeing “the global” as exclusively “foreign.” They will be able to place themselves and

their communities in webs of natural, economic, cultural, and social connections that defy geopolitical

borders.

Articulate how they have worked to defamiliarize their own assumptions about the world and their

positions in it through rigorous, sustained engagement with difference.

Demonstrate the ways that their education at Whitman has helped them make complex connections

among various disciplinary perspectives on important global issues. More specifically, students should

be able to demonstrate how they have engaged with the concepts of “global systems and histories,”

“global circulations and movements,” and “global places and events” (as described below) from

multiple disciplinary perspectives.

Please contact the Director of Global Studies for a complete list of concentration-affiliated faculty who may

serve as advisers. Students may declare the Concentration at any time until first semester of their Senior year.

The Concentration in Global Studies:

One course from different departments in each of the three Global thematic areas for a minimum of 12

credits: Global Systems & Histories, Global Circulations & Movements, and Global Places &

Events (see course lists below)

One item from each of the three groups in the Global Engagement, Analysis, and Reflection area.

(see the three groups below)

Successful passing of the student learning assessment which consists of an integrative essay, portfolio

of work, and outgoing interview with faculty adviser.

Global engagement, analysis, and reflection consists of three groups, Language Immersions, Off-Campus

Education, and Analysis & Reflection. Students must complete one item from each of the following three areas:

Language Immersions

o 6 credits of language study completed on-campus, through adviser-approved Off-Campus

Studies (OCS) coursework, or with a combination of the two.

Notes: Can be completed with more than one language. Advisers will work with

OCS staff to assess the rigor of OCS-based language study when approving OCS

programs for this requirement. Off-Campus Education

o 1 semester OCS in a country other than the U.S. (U.S.-based programs will be assessed by

advisers on a case-by-case basis.)

o Crossroads course or other adviser-approved short-term OCS (3-6 credit programs).

o Globally-focused internship approved by Concentration adviser.

Analysis & Reflection

o CGS Sophomore Fellows seminar.

o Post-OCS seminar.

o Co-taught Global Studies seminar.

o Approved analysis and reflection courses. (Film and Media Studies 340 Globalization,

Culture, and Media; Politics 331 The Politics of International Hierarchy; English 376

Colonial and Anti-Colonial Literature; Biology/History 121 History and Enthnobiology of the

Silk Roads).

Courses in Global Systems & Histories, Global Circulations & Movements, and Global Places & Events

Global Systems & Histories:

Anthropology 101 Becoming Human: An Introduction

to Anthropology

Anthropology 102 Introduction to Cultural

Anthropology

Anthropology 306 Culture, Politics, Ecology

Anthropology 317 Language and Culture

Art History and Visual Culture Studies 210 Museums

and the Politics of Display

Art History and Visual Culture Studies 357 Art of

Colonial India

Chemistry 315 Marine & Freshwater Chemistry

Chemistry 388 Environmental Chemistry and

Engineering

Classics 130 Ancient Mythology

Economics 277 Global Environmental and Resource

Issues

Economics 448 International Finance

English 375 VT: Feminist Theory

all offerings of English 376: Studies in Colonial and

Anti-Colonial Literature

English 389 ST: Extraordinary Visions

English 491 VT: Playing God

Environmental Studies 327 Biodiversity

Film and Media Studies 340 Globalization, Culture, &

Media

Geology 125 Environmental Geology

Geology 229 Geology and Ecology of Soils

Geology 301 Hydrology

Geology 312 Earth History

Geology 405 Volcanoes and Solid Earth

Geology 415 Terroir

Global Literatures 320 Race, Trauma, Narrative

Hispanic Studies 431 (Re)Conquistadores: How

Medieval Iberian Imperialism Shaped Spanish

American Colonialism

History 155 Animal, Vegetable, and Mineral: Natural

Resources in Global Environmental History

History 215 ST: Cleopatra - History & Myth

History 219 Nation Creation: Latin America in the

Nineteenth Century

History 220 The Ottoman Empire

History 226 Ancient Mediterranean – Greece

History 227 Meet the Romans

History 277 Revoltionary Europe; Democracy Rising

History 278 Twentieth-Centry Europe

History 231 Oceans Past and Future: Introduction to

Marine Environmental History

History 250 New Worlds, New Empires: North

America 1600-1800

History 344 China in Revolution

History 489 ST: Roman Imperialism

Music 115 Introduction to World Music

Physics 105 Energy and the Environment

Politics 119 Whitman in the Global Food System

Politics 147 International Politics

Politics 255 Politics and Christianity

Politics 304 Work and the Politics of Citizenship

Politics 315 ST: Debating the Origins and History of

Capitalism

Politics 320 The Politics of Global Security

Politics 331 The Politics of International Hierarchy

Politics 363 Genealogies of Political Economy

Race and Ethnic Studies 105 Introduction to Race and

Ethnic Studies

Race and Ethnic Studies 305 Continental Philosophy,

Postcolonial Theory, and the Palestinian Question

Religion 109 Conceptions of Ultimate Reality

Religion 110 Religion and the Senses

all offerings of Religion 116 and 117 Comparative

Studies in Religion

Religion 152 Saintly Lives

Religion 205 Introduction to Christianity

Religion 207 Islamic Traditions

Religion 209 Jewish Texts and Traditions

Religion 236 Comparative Scriptures

Religion 250 Theravāda Buddhism

Religion 251 Mahāyāna Buddhism

Religion 304 Muslim Bodies

Sociology 329/Environmental Studies 329

Environmental Health

Sociology 340 Economic Sociology

Sociology 353/Environmental Studies 353

Environmental Justice

Sociology 369 Social Stratification

Global Circulations & Movements:

Anthropology 313 Communism, Socialism, and the

Environment

Anthropology 325 Anthropology of New/Digital

Media

Anthropology 330 Resistance and Refusal

Anthropology 327 Anthropology and History

Anthropology 360 The Cultural Politics of Science

Art History and Visual Culture Studies 243 Buddhist

Art in Asia

Art History and Visual Culture Studies 353 Blues,

Blood, Bruise: Blackness in Art

BBMB 430 Infectious Disease

Biology 118 Agroecology

Biology 121/History 121 History and Ethnobiology of

the Silk Roads

Biology 130 Conservation Biology

Biology 212 Natural History of the Inland Northwest

Biology 288 Plants and Peoples

Biology 327 Biology of Amphibians and Reptiles

Chemistry 100 Introduction to Environmental

Chemistry and Science

Chemistry 315 Marine and Freshwater Chemistry

Classics 205 Women and Nature in the Ancient World

Economics 448 International Finance

English 200 VT: African Diaspora Shakespeare

English 200 VT: Shifting Grounds: Writing, Exile, and

Migrancy

English 246 Native American Literatures

English 338 VT: Restoration and Eighteenth-Century

Literature: Social Mutability

English 338 VT: Restoration and Eighteenth-Century

Literature: The Birth of Empire

English 387 ST: History of the Book

Environmental Studies 305 Water in the West

Environmental Studies 308 (Re)Thinking Environment

Film and Media Studies 340 Globalization, Culture, &

Media

Film and Media Studies 345 The Middle East in

Cinema & Media

Geology 130 Weather and Climate

German Studies 310 Migration and Identity in

Contemporary Germany

German Studies 339/Environmental Studies 339

Writing Environmental Disaster

German Studies 408 Berlin: Evolution of a Metropolis

Global Literatures 320 Race, Trauma, Narrative

Philosophy 137 Skepticism, Relativism, and Truth

Philosophy 205 The Genealogy of Non-Violence

Philosophy 216Cosmopolitanism, Citizenship, and

Belonging

Philosophy 227 Concepts of Nature in Modern

European Philosophy

Philosophy 318/German Studies 318 Hannah Arendt

as Political Thinker

Physics 103 Sound and Music

Politics 100 Introduction to Race, Gender & Politics

of the Body

Politics 207 Islam and Politics

Politics 225 Introduction to Indigenous Politics

Politics 232 Politics of Globalization

Politics 301 The Art of Revolution

Politics 312 Humanism between Europe and its

Others

Politics 329 Theories of Empire

Politics 334 The U.S.-Mexico Border: Immigration,

Development, and Globalization

Politics 351 Necropower and the Politics of Violence

Politics 359 Gender and International Hierarchy

Politics 367 African Political Thought

Politics 322/Environmental Studies 322 The

Anthropocene

Psychology 230 Social Psychology

Psychology 232 The Psychology of Prejudice

Psychology 311 Development and Parenting Across

Cultures

Psychology 317 Perspectives on Disgust

Psychology 324 What is Mental Illness?

Psychology 336 Social Stigma

Religion 150 Evil and Suffering

Religion 203 What is Religion?

Religion 208 Buddhist Ethics

Religion 213 Buddhist Monasticisms

Religion 214 American Jewish Thought

Religion 219 Modern Jewish Thought

Religion 227 Christian Ethics

Religion 245 Jewish Ethics

Religion 305 Gender and Identity in Judaism

Religion 307 Mediating Religions

Religion 310 Hearing Islam

Religion 314 Approaches to Religion, Violence and

War

Religion 358 Feminist and Liberation Theologies

Global Literatures 325 Imagining Community through

Contemporary Japanese Fiction and Film

Hispanic Studies 446 Indigenous Performativity in the

Andes

Hispanic Studies 448 Discourses of Dictatorship:

Testifying Against Torture in Guatemala and

Argentina

Hispanic Studies 461 Crossing Borders: Latin

American Narratives of Migration

History 127 Islamic Civilization I: The Early and

Medieval Islamic World

History 128 Islamic Civilization II: The Modern

Islamic World: The Ottomans to Arafat

History 160 Troy & the Trojan War

History 204 The Syrian War: From the Rise of Asad to

the Specter of ISIS

History 214 Sex in the Casbah: Sex, Gender & Islam

History 217 Decolonization in Africa

History 230 International Relations of the Middle East

History 232 Changing Landscapes: Introduction to

Terrestrial Environmental History

History 235 The Arab Spring in Historical Context

History 287 Colonial Latin America

History 314 Colonial Moment in Africa

History 320 Alexander the Great and the Hellenistic

Kingdoms

History 322 History of the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict

History 329 Rights, Revolution, and Empire: France

1789-1815

History 332 Conversion, Crusade, and Conquest:

European Cultural Encounters, c. 400-1600

History 335 Modern European Imperialism

History 340 A Tale of Two Cities - Carthage & Rome

History 348 Horseriders and Samurai: Comparisons

in Early Modern East Asia

History 364 Sugar, Sex, & Slavery: The History of the

Black Atlantic

History 494 ST: Harem Histories

Music 358 Music and Diplomacy

Rhetoric, Writing and Public Discourse 360 The

Rhetoric of Social Protest: Exploring the Arab

Spring

Rhetoric, Writing and Public Discourse 365 Rhetoric

and Violence

Sociology 230 Social Psychology

Sociology 267 Race and Ethnic Group Relations

Sociology 278 Social Movements and Social Change

Sociology 290 The Sociology and History of Rock ‘n’

Roll

Sociology 337 Seminar in Cultural Sociology

Sociology 353/Environmental Studies 353

Environmental Justice

Theatre 210 World Theatre

Global Places & Events:

Anthropology 206 Anthropology and Europe

Anthropology 219 Chinese Religions

Anthropology 220 China Now

Anthropology 259/Environmental Studies 259 Culture,

Environment and Development in the Andes

Art History and Visual Culture Studies 246 The Art of

India

Art History and Visual Culture Studies 351 Los Angeles:

Art, Architecture, Cultural Geography

Art History and Visual Culture Studies 352

Art/Environment

Art History and Visual Culture Studies 356 The Taj

Mahal and Beyond: The Art and Architecture of

Mughal India

Chemistry 100 Introduction to Environmental Chemistry

and Science

Chemistry 102 Chemistry in Art

Classics 139 Greek and Roman Intellectual History

Classics 217 Classical Foundations of the Nature

Writing Tradition

Art History and Visual Culure/Classics/History 224

Greek and Roman Art

Classics 319 Landscape and Cityscape in Ancient Rome

English 336 VT: Medieval Literature: Social Bodies,

Social Boundaries

English 376/Politics 401 ST: Reading India

English 491 VT: Inside/Outside: Literary

Cosmopolitanism in Britain

Environmental Studies/German 335 Romantic Nature

Film and Media Studies 305 Global Comics

French 316 Contemporary France and the Francophone

World

Geology 340 Volcanoes

Global Literatures 301 Chinese Literature and Film

Adaptation

Global Literatures 309 French National Cinemas

Global Literatures 325 Imagining Community through

Contemporary Japanese Fiction and Film

Global Literatures 338 Undoing the Japanese National

Narrative through Literature and Film

Hispanic Studies 426 Inventing Spain

Hispanic Studies 430 Tri-Cultural Spain: Islam,

Judaism and Christianity on the Iberian Peninsula

(632-1492)

Hispanic Studies 444 Decolonial Strategies in Latin(o)

America

Politics 228 Political Ecology

Politics 236 Concepts of the Political in Southeast Asia:

An Introduction

Politics 240 Mexico: Politics and Society in the Age of

NAFTA

Politics 242 The Politics of Development in Latin

America

Race and Ethnic Studies 305 Continental Philosophy,

Postcolonial Theory, and the Palestinian Question

Religion 153 Religion and Native America

Religion 204 African American Religious Traditions

Religion 221 Brahmins, Buddhists and Jains

Religion 222 Hindu India

Religion 330 Multireligious South Asia

Rhetoric, Writing and Public Discourse 360 The

Rhetoric of Social Protest: Exploring the Arab

Spring

Sociology 220 Latin@s in the United States

Sociology 271 Asian Americans in Contemporary

Society

Hispanic Studies 461 Crossing Borders: Latin American

Narratives of Migration

History 218 Africa to 1885

History 329 Rights, Revolution, and Empire: France

1789-1815

History 333 Never-Ending Revolution? The French

Experiment, 1789-2002

History 339 Modern Germany: Imagining a Nation?

History 355 Pacific Whaling History

Politics 114 Introduction to the Study of African Politics

and Society

Politics 208 Middle East Politics